City of Pines

Baguio City, Philippines  – After almost six years I find myself back in this City of Pines, but this time for something not related to work or school. I’m here to attend the wedding of one of my foster sisters, Maroh Villareal, whose mother Auntie Rose took care of me when I was a skinny plebe so many summers ago.

This city brings back so many memories, good, bad, happy, sad, funny, painful and whatever adjective one can think of, but nevertheless fond.

Memories like the sound of the “boom-boom” or the band during parade, the bugle calls, and of course, the sound of eerie silence, which is not in anyway related to the song by Simon and Garfunkel.

Baguio has been a hub for the training of the members of the Philippine team for various sporting disciplines.

While growing up, I read of the stories of the country’s best athletes heading to Baguio to prepare for international competitions.

On a very personal note, Baguio to me, is the home of several top Filipino judokas, who once reigned supreme in the national competitions.

I remember those days when opponents just suddenly would chicken out fro matches once it is announced that their opponent would be one of the Diño brothers of Baguio or the other top judo stars during my prime back in the late 80s to the mid 90s.

The Diños – Willie, Rollie and Jerry – were synonymous not only to judo in Baguio but the Philippines as well during their heydays.

Then there were the second generation of Baguio judokas, who I often met in national events like Jeffrey Barroga and Rexbert Ramirez, who were both one-time stand outs in the national team.

I heard that Rexbert is coaching the cadets at the Philippine Military Academy, which I again had a chance to visit yesterday.

Baguio was also once home to the might RP track team. The likes of Isidro del Prado and Lydia de Vega trained here as well as members of the Philippine chess team, who had The Freeman columnist Raffy Uytiepo as one of their coaches one time.

It may sound funny to the uninformed, but chess players also need to build stamina despite the fact that they seem to be idle most of the time in their matches and only their brains are working are break neck speed.

Chess players also need to be fit so their minds can sustain the rigors of the competition.

The mountainous terrain and the cold weather are seen as a perfect place for the athletes to train. Why so? Maybe because when you come from other parts of the Philippines, especially from the south, the temperatures here could approximate that of the colder climates during summer in their place.

Another thing could be the smell of the pines, which you can still breathe at some areas of the city, but unfortunately not anymore at the busy city proper.

The Baguio of today is sadly unlike that of the old, but it remains a bustling hub of activity for the northern Philippines.

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MILESTONES: I’d like to wish two very close friends a belated happy birthday – Rick Gabuya last July 29 and the dashing Carl Senen Veloso, who celebrated last July 30. The same also goes to Marlon Mesina of Lexmark and my fellow Cebu Squad member, who celebrated yesterday.

Happy birthday to Security Bank’s Chester Benedict Go, who is celebrating today and advanced greetings to Roel Desuyo and my dear cousin Kim Lebumfacil, who both turn a year older tomorrow.

More power to all of you! (THE FREEMAN)